Kiruna, Sweden June 15, 2018 A rocket used for atmospheric research in the parking lot of the … [+]
High above the Arctic circle in the heart of Swedish Lapland, sits a little-known aerospace range that has been launching high-altitude balloons and suborbital sounding rockets for decades. But Esrange Space Center is kickstarting a new satellite launch effort by the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) to place as many as 10 to 15 small- to medium-sized satellites onto polar orbits by 2026.
Encircled by some 2200 square km of pristine wilderness, Esrange is about the last place one would expect to find a jumping off point for outer space. But its location some 40 km from the Swedish iron ore-mining center of Kiruna, provides it with the kind of commercial infrastructure needed to attract what SSC hopes will be a plethora of new international customers.
While Esrange is currently a civilian-only facility, it’s hard to ignore that Russia lies less than 700 km away. And given the war in Ukraine and Sweden’s new potential role in NATO, Lennart Poromaa, Head of Esrange Space Center, told me here that he can’t rule out the possibility that the launch site might see future defense applications, potentially using small sat reconnaissance.
“You see the crisis in Ukraine, in the future you need to have space assets that you can actually use to monitor to see what is happening,” said Poromaa.
Because of new sanctions against Russia due to the war in Ukraine, Poromaa says that Europe has lost access to about a quarter of its launch capability. Thus, he says that Europe needs to be able to launch its own satellites from the continent itself, without depending on Russia or making the trek to ESA’s Ariane spaceport in French Guiana.
Poromaa says that Esrange and SSC will fill part of that launch gap with 10 to 15 launches here per year along with a continuation of its suborbital sounding science.
Esrange has a natural advantage in its position above the arctic circle because at high latitudes, rockets require less fuel to launch into polar orbits. Such orbits allow for satellites to orbit the earth from north to south at altitudes that range from 200 to 1000 km.
Most customers want a 600 km Sun-syncrhonous orbit, says Poromaa.
Sun-synchronous orbits (SSOs) are polar orbits synchronized to always be in the same ‘fixed’ position relative to the Sun, says the European Space Agency (ESA). This means that the satellite will always observe a point on the Earth at the same time of the day, which as ESA notes is ideal for long-term Earth observations.
Swedish space policy currently aims for the country to pay a global role in mapping climate change from the upper atmosphere, sub-orbit and from polar orbits.
Our whole mission with SSC is to use the technology and the downstream data coming from space to help create a sustainable Earth, Mia Kleregard, Head of Transformation at the Swedish Space Corporation, told me in Stockholm. We need to focus on how to use the data we’re getting from space to make better decisions about how best to preserve Earth, she says.
We’re also monitoring deforestation and sea level rise, says Kleregard. One of the biggest questions today is how to measure these things and that’s where we can use satellite technology, she says.
The SSC already has one of the globe’s largest satellite-tracking and space to ground data-collection networks. Historically, SSC’s customers have primarily been research institutions and academia doing research on the Aurora Borealis, atmospheric conditions and climate.
SSC’s future customers, however, will not only be industries but also large insurance companies interested in doing sustainable investments, says Kleregard. They really want to know the environmental risks from landslides and floods, etc. that can really only be measured precisely with space technology, she says.
Polar orbits are also ideal for telecommunications, says Poromaa. A phone with 6G should be able to access the internet anywhere from earth, likely using both terrestrial- and space-based infrastructure.
Poromaa expects Esrange to launch its first orbital satellite by the end of 2023 and ramp up to 10 launches per year by 2026.
The trend is towards smaller spacecraft but a lot more of them that will have to continually replaced about every five years, says Poromaa. We aim to have a top payload mass of 1.2 tons, a medium-sized communications satellite, he says. But our sweet spot will be four 250 kg communication satellites on the same payload, he says.
After our initial sit-down interview, we drive out to an area where SSC is building two new launch pads and putting the finishing touches on an engine maintenance building with parallel work bays. These work bays can either be used in tandem or if a client company is wary of exposing proprietary technology, the bays have interior partitions to ensure privacy.
On the site of one of Esrange’s new launch pads now under contruction near Kiruna, Sweden. Lennart … [+]
As for the ESA’s reusable rocket program?
Poromaa says ESA’s Themis reusable rocket’s single stage demonstrator will be conducting its first tests at Esrange early next year. These will involve short hop flights that will entail hovering with the first stage and landing it.
As for the biggest challenge in implementing SSC’s plans for Esrange?
Recruiting personnel with the required competencies, says Poromaa. Young people coming in want to have a good life, so you have to describe the fantastic life you can have in Kiruna, he says.
But both Poroma and Kleregard seem to inherently understand that Europe needs its own new launch capabilities in this age of burgeoning commercial players like SpaceX.
“SpaceX is driving a lot of innovation today but they are also pushing the limits,” Kleregard.
With classic Scandinavian reserve, Kleregard warns that humanity needs to step back and think about our space future in a sober fashion. She notes the plastic in our oceans and wonders if we’ve learned anything. We now have regulations on that, but we need to put in new guidelines for space exploration because every time we launch we are creating new debris, she says.
“We stand at a very important point in our human history; bounding into the future without reflecting on lessons learned,” said Kleregard. “So, we need to think about our impact in space.”
